Proof That Pepper Potts Owns My Heart
by Shipperony10
Summary: Tony Stark knew in his heart that this is what they needed. He was ready for the next step of his journey...with her. Iron Man 3. Spoilers. You have been warned.


Disclaimer: Not mine.

**Author's Warning: DO NOT READ if you have NOT seen Iron Man 3, yet. SPOILERS!**

A/N: So Iron Man 3 rocked my world. I loved it. Wish there would have been a kiss, but it was amazing! So this story stems from the scene where Tony gives Pepper the necklace. From the Japanese trailer, I recall him doing this with the ocean and moon behind them. I guess they chose to re-write that (which I did hear they did a bit of for certain Acts of the movie). Anyway, I was so full of thoughts and emotions and holding back tears that I felt I needed to put this down on "paper" to share with you all. The next chapter to Risks and Consequences will be up soon, but until then, enjoy this little piece!

Sorry for any mistakes.

* * *

His plan had always been to give her his heart.

Or, a piece of it.

But in his visions, he had always done it on their balcony. Back home in Malibu. With the steady sound of waves crashing on the cliff side accompanying the gentle breeze that flowed through her hair. He never imagined it would be half-way around the world, in a place so unfamiliar to them both.

Yet in his heart, he felt that perhaps it was what they needed. Something to truly help them start from the beginning. A neutral ground, un-marred by previous lovers, alcoholic binges, home-destroying-experiments slash parties, or terrorist attacks.

And as they stood beneath the stars, atop of the China World Summit Wing hotel, he was convinced more than ever that the time to do it was now.

* * *

Pepper drew circles with the tip of her index finger around the edge of his arc reactor. Allowing herself the luxury to do so as they recovered from an intense session of love-making, their own private way of celebrating the fact that Tony had mastered the Extremis virus. He had worked tirelessly night and day to find a cure for her. Not once complaining, only eager to discover a way of reversing what Killian had done to his beloved Pepper.

Only he held the key to her humanity. Her genius, billionaire, philanthropist boyfriend knew that, and he had stopped at nothing to getting her back to her non-super soldier-tick-me-off-and-I-might-punch-you-with-my- fiery-fist self.

She smiled sleepily.

"I need you to come with me to China." He spoke softly in the dark.

Breaking the trance she had fallen deeply into, and mentally shaking herself awake, she responded. "What's in China?"

Tony hugged her tightly. His hand kneading the skin of her right hip. "Dr. Wu." He sighed.

Pepper could have had a heart attack just then. "Who?" She tried desperately to hide the panic in her voice.

"Dr. Wu. We met a while back. He's a genius, and I believe he can help me."

"Tony, are you alright?" This time she was not so successful at concealing the sense of worry that over-took her. Using the palm of her hand against his pecs, she raised herself slowly. Even in the dark she could see his brown eyes staring up at her. A small smile tugging at his lips.

Carefully he used his left had to tuck her loose strands of red behind her ears. "I'm good, Pep. I promise." He chuckled quietly. "Have you always jumped to conclusions so quickly?" He knitted his eyebrows at her. Sensing that she was not up for humor, he cleared his throat and patted his shoulder for her to lay on. She complied. "I did a lot of thinking while I was working on the serum. About my next step. What I want to do next in my life." He paused for a moment. "I've experienced things. Some small, some traumatic, but all worthwhile. I know who I am. I know what I want. Before Afghanistan I wasn't too sure about any of that. I questioned my purpose, and my place in anyone's life. Including yours. If it weren't for that cave and for Yinsen, I may never have gotten my answers. I may never have had the drive to discover those answers for myself. I would have wasted away. Content with endless parties and supplies of alcohol." He stopped. His face still and full of what she concluded to be exhaustion.

Pepper listened quietly to his words as anticipation built up in her stomach. She was uncertain about whether she should be afraid for them with this new plan he had in mind or not. The new journey he seemed to have plotted out for himself, and perhaps for her, could mean so many different things.

With a soft touch she traced his jawline. Hoping to ease some of the tension she knew he held onto.

He smiled down at her as soon as he felt her touch. It never failed to amaze him how the simplest of caresses from her could set him at such ease. "You told me that my suits were distractions. I think you were partly right. My suits were the shell for my metamorphosis. I built them to allow me the safety and time I needed to find my answers. They kept me busy and safe, while I allowed myself to grow." Shifting slowly, Tony faced her, the blue hue from his reactor illuminated her features. His right arm kept him upright while he let his left play with her hair. Pepper mirrored his position as she too held herself up, trying her best to be at eyelevel with him. "For all the right reasons I used the wrong things to keep me safe." Pepper furrowed her brows. "It should have been you. I should have let you in on what I was going through. I pushed you away, and I'm sorry for that. I never meant to do it, I just did. And the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that keeping you at arm's length was the right thing to do. To keep you from the burden of my turmoil."

She sighed sadly, but with a small smile on her face, Pepper brushed a fingers over his now-shadowy cheek. "Don't dwell on that anymore, Tony. We're past it."

A slow nod escaped him. "I still believe in my heart, that the only reason why I did not completely lose my mind, or just gave up, was because of you." Pepper's eyes watered up as she allowed herself to smile at him. "And it is because of you that I now see what I need and care about the most in my life. Which is why I would like for you to accompany me to China."

Pepper pondered long and hard about the situation. Whatever he had planned, he needed her by his side, and that made her happy. She never needed much from him, except his trust and his love. Him willingly telling her that he would much rather have her there than not, demonstrated both of those things. "What do you have up your sleeve, Anthony Stark?" She ran her fingers through his black hair.

"A lot." He grinned widely at her. "But our journey of a thousand miles, begins with the first step." He smiled as he looked down at his reactor. "How disappointed would you be if I stopped being your night light?" He asked playfully as he covered the circle with his large hand.

At first, Pepper had laughed softly with him. It was only after he covered it and looked at her while he waited for her answer, that she let the words sink in. She gasped audibly as her eyes widened. With a slender hand she covered her mouth in awe. "What?!"

"Well, now that I have blossomed into a gorgeous butterfly, I think I can discard this thing." He tapped it with his fingers.

"You'll die!" She argued with him as she pushed at his shoulder. "Are you insane?"

Tony tried his best not to laugh at her reaction, but no amount of growing could ever stop him from having the sense of humor that he was naturally born with. "A lot of people have asked me that question." He pretended to think hard about it. "Can't state conclusively whether I am or not. Not yet, anyway."

"Tony…" She used her warning tone.

And that was enough for him to realize she was seriously concerned, and needed some reassurance. "Pep, this doctor is the top cardiologist in all of the world. He's performed so many miraculous surgeries they might as well call him God." He stopped when she huffed at him. "Ok maybe not God, but he's pretty damn close to being a supreme being, at least in the surgical wards. We've talked about it, I've given him detailed outlines of my situation, and he believes he can do it. He can take the remaining shrapnel out. Then I wouldn't need this."

"But, it's become part of you." Pepper eyed him. Confused about how she was feeling. She never actually liked it, but it had kept him alive for so long. It had given him…her…a second chance. The opportunity to live life at his side.

He nodded. "It is. Always will be. But I no longer need it." He smiled at her.

Pepper lay still as she looked deep into his eyes. "Tony, don't do this for me. Because you think this is what I want." She shook her head at him.

"I'm not, Potts. I'm doing this for me, for you, for us. I know I needed this before. For more reasons than one, but now...with the opportunity that has presented itself to me...I know I can break away from it. I'll survive."

"And the suits? The Avengers? Iron Man?" Pepper asked with a hand on his chest.

Tony sighed and looked around the darkened room. "I'll be one hell of a consultant." They laughed softly. "And if I ever need a suit, I can always take the 'Iron Patriot'..." he mocked the name once again. "Rhodey can't keep me from my own technology." He grinned. "I'll always be Iron Man, Pep. Reactor or not. That will never change. I just won't be compelled to..." He scratched his head as he thought. "Save the world every day, while I ultimately ignore the one person that I should be protecting." He smiled at her. Hoping that she would understand what he was trying to convey.

Her red strands fell forward as she bowed her head to look at the circle of light in his chest. "I don't want you to do something you'll later regret." She traced the outline of it again. "I never wanted you to stop being who you are, I just needed you to be Tony Stark too."

"Pep...the reactor didn't make me Iron Man. It didn't make Tony Stark disappear either. I was at a precipice. I had to build in order to survive. Taking it out just means that I won't have it permanently in me. I won't have to rely on it to keep me alive. If...and I stress if...I need it...for whatever reason, I can build it again." He grinned. "It's all up here." He pointed to his brain.

"You really want this?" Pepper asked with knitted brows.

Tony nodded. "I really want this."

"Then when do we go to China?" Her wide smile made his heart leap out of his chest.

He laughed as he cupped her face in his hands. Her fingers traced the muscles of his chest. And with on swift move, he pulled her in for the deepest of kisses.

* * *

Rarely did Tony Stark get nervous. In fact, he could count the times he had on one hand.

This time would add another finger to that count. Because as he sat on the hospital bed, dressed in a medical gown, and held tightly onto Pepper's hand, he could not stop fidgeting.

He knew the risk he was taking, and his mathematical mind informed him of the odds. Something could go wrong, true, but given Dr. Wu's extensive experience and success rate, he could rest assured that he was in good hands.

"Tony, sweetie stop shaking." Pepper looked sympathetically at him. Her fingers tightening around his.

"Sorry." He responded as he looked at door to spot any sign of his nurses.

"It's ok. You don't have to apologize. It's perfectly normal to be nervous." She smoothed his hair with her hand, but never let go of him.

He huffed. "I'm not nervous." Pepper looked at him with an expression that told him she was calling his bluff. "Alright... maybe a little."

They laughed together. Neither aware of the nurse that walked in to his private room.

"Ok, Mr. Stark." She smiled at the couple before she picked up his chart from the of the bed. "We're ready for you. Are you ready?"

A heavy sigh escaped his lips. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." He shrugged with a small smile.

The petite nurse nodded at him. "Alright. Kim and James will come in and wheel you over to the surgical ward. Is there anything else I can do for you before you go in?" She asked both of them.

"So there really is no convincing Dr. Wu of letting Pepper in?" Tony asked bashfully, almost like a child hoping his mother could follow him in to the dentist's office.

Pepper laughed as she shook her head. The nurse chuckled under her breath. "I'm afraid not, Mr. Stark. But he has agreed to an open-curtain surgery. She can watch from the window."

While it was not what he had hoped for, at least he breathed easier knowing she would be there. Almost right next to him. Tony nodded thankfully.

"Thank you. We appreciate that." Pepper smiled at the lady.

"Our pleasure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I just need to sign the final round before he's taken for acupuncture and anesthesia." She finished monitoring and recording his vitals before she signed the paperwork and walked out.  
Pepper sat on the edge of the bed as she caressed his cheek. "You can still change your mind."

"Nope." He shook his head stubbornly. "I'm doing this, Pepper."

With a proud smile she nodded. She leaned in to kiss him when they were interrupted by a clearing of a throat. Tony groaned while Pepper laughed.

"Sorry. I just wanted to come see you before you went under the knife." Rhodey shrugged.

Tony was about to speak, probably to say something sarcastic, when Pepper cut in. "It's alright, Rhodey. Come in."

The three of them laughed as they talked until Kim and James walked in with scrubs neat and clean. "Mr. Stark... are you ready?" Kim asked as she walked towards the monitors.

"Yes. Let's do this. " Tony clapped his hands before he rubbed them together.

Rhodey smiled as he took the opportunity to wish him luck. With a pat on the back and a brotherly hug, he walked out of the room.

The nurses prepared the bed as they lifted the side rails. One of them unplugged the IV machine as they switched on the battery power. Both Tony and Pepper were silent as they looked on.

A stronger sense of panic crept into Tony as the time neared. He hurriedly reached for her hand. Pepper smiled reassuringly down at him. "You're going to be fine, Tony."

Tony nodded. Feigning calm. "But just in case... the company, the towers, the money... it's all yours." He grinned.

Pepper smacked his shoulder. "Shut up." She laughed nervously for the first time since they arrived in China.

"I love you, Pepper." He nodded up at her as he squeezed her hand.

"I love you." She whispered before kissing his knuckles. "Good luck, sweetie." Her insides twisted as she realized the gravity of the situation, but she didn't let him see any doubt or fear.

She learned down slowly to kiss him firmly. Tony would have pulled her onto the need if it were not for the tapping of a foot that came from James.

"Alright, Alright." Tony threw his hands up in mock surrender. And as they wheeled him away he turned to look at her with one last smile.

* * *

He exhaled warily. This was it.

Before the anesthesia could take him under, he looked out at the one person he could not live without.

Her small smile gave him hope.

Tony felt himself drowning in a peaceful darkness as he gave her a solid thumbs up.

* * *

The road to recover had been an easy one.

Who knew that with the proper equipment, surgeons, and personal nurse in the form of one Pepper Potts could expedite the process so beautifully.

To say it had been like a dream would have been an understatement. Almost in a blur Tony saw himself coming back to life.

The nights had been the hardest for them. Sleeping had been difficult for him with his chest wound, the constant feeling of pressure and soreness made it uncomfortable for him to lie down and rest his eyes. Pepper's fear of accidentally swinging her arm over his chest, or resting her head over it, kept her at a distance on their king-sized hotel room bed. A distance that neither of them was very happy about. They craved the comfort of each other's arms.

But it had all been worth it.

On a particularly difficult evening, Tony snuck out of bed while his redhead slept peacefully within the sheets.

After conducting some research and asking around, Tony was able to walk into a top of the line jewelry store to carry out his plan. The workers there could not have assisted him more expertly if they wanted to. He was gratefully impressed by their quick responses and suggestions when he asked for "the best ruby you've got".

His eyes had fallen upon a certain one that hung from a display before him. "I'll take this one." Tony nodded proudly at his selection. This would make the biggest rabbit in the world jealous. Pepper was sure to love it. Definitely more than she did that rabbit.

"Certainly, sir." An elder man, whom Tony presumed to be the owner of the store, bowed and proceeded to carefully tuck in a simple yet elegant satin box.

As the new year approached, Tony worked diligently and stealthily during the night hours to finish his gift for Pepper. With expert hands and determined work ethic he soldered the missing piece that would make it complete. A suitable addition to the necklace he held in his hands. To be placed upon the only perfection he knew of in this world. Her.

* * *

The time was now.

Tony Stark readied himself for the second step of his new journey with Pepper. He took in a slow breath of night air before he exhaled it just as slowly.

A smile tugged at his lips as he saw her look up at the sky. Cars drove below them, planes flew above them, people cheered around them, clocks ticked away the last minutes of two thousand twelve in the distance. But it was all diminished by her beauty. Because seeing her in that champaign colored dress, as she smiled up at the heavens, made everything else disappear.

He gently reached out for her hand to turn her towards him. "I have something for you." Tony smiled coyly at her reaction. Surely she expected a companion to the giant rabbit that now rested somewhere deep beneath the Pacific. How wrong she could be. He thought before he smiled broadly. "I promise it's not a stuffed animal."

Pepper's soft laugh eased his nervousness of the moment. Which he now added to the count.

With a soft breath Tony reached into his left pocket. He smiled up at her as he let go of her hand to hold the satin box in both of his. Her eyes glistened with tears. He wondered if it was because of the moment, or simply because of the light breeze that blew around them.

"Tony…" She shook her head before she covered his hands over the box. "I'm sorry for over-reacting about the rabbit." Tony laughed at her comment, but she appeared to be genuinely remorseful.

"It was a horrible present." He shrugged.

Pepper chuckled. "Undoubtedly. But that doesn't mean you have to go out and get me something more expensive or flashy." She smiled. "Or fly to Belgium when I suddenly crave chocolate." The laughed together as they remembered the last time he did that for her.

Tony shook his head. "I promise to never do that again. Now listen before the timing gets ruined." He winked. "If it makes you feel better…I got this here in China. And…well I added something to it myself. So it's actually a meaningful gift. And I guess you could say original. I mean…well…" He stammered.

"Tony…" Pepper rubbed his forearm in a comforting gesture.

He grinned and nodded. "I love you." He stated plainly. "More than I ever thought I could love anyone, ever." Pepper's smile faded as she listened to his heartfelt confession. "I've wasted a lot of my life on meaningless things. I've fought for the wrong things. I've even died for the wrong things. But coming back to life, surviving and striving to survive forever, that's been the smartest thing I have ever done. And I did it because of you." He pointed to her with a free hand. "Because knowing that you could walk this world along side of me instilled in me a sliver of hope. For a new existence." He paused to look out at the scene before them. The brightly-lit sky scrapers glowing with life. "I know it hasn't been easy. Nothing with me will ever be simple. But I promise that I will make it as smooth for us as possible. Especially now." He gently patted where his reactor would be. "I took his out so I could lead as normal a life as I could. To give you a chance to have a somewhat normal life with me. Granted, I will never be normal. I'm different. And I'm special." He teased to make her smile. Pepper shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Pepper…"  
he took a step forward to be as close to her as possible. "I'm not perfect. But I can spend my life reaching for that if you're by my side." Tony's fingers gracefully cradled the box before they pried it open. "It's not a ring, but that can be another step in our journey if you're up for it. I can offer you the world, but let's start with my heart." He smiled. The heart-shaped ruby sat securely surrounded by tiny diamonds. Below the tip of the heart, a small shiny fragment hung gracefully from it. "In more ways than one, you have my heart, Pepper." He pointed to the fragment. "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart." She gaped, realizing that the hanging ornament was the last piece of shrapnel that inhabited his heart for the past few years. The amazement made her head spin. "And now you're going to keep it safe for me. To remind me of the second chance we've been granted. You'll own my heart forever." He smiled lovingly at her.

Pepper stood frozen as she stared at the necklace that lay nestled in the cushions of the box. The tears she had fought so hard against for the past few weeks finally trickled down her cheeks. "Tony…" she sniffled. "I'm speechless." She smiled at him.

Tony shook his head. "You don't have to say anything. Just wear it?" He asked.

"Of course." She nodded happily.

"Turn around, honey." Tony released the necklace from its resting place before he effortlessly draped his arms around her and clasped it securely around her neck.

She felt a million things inside of her just then. Some familiar, and some she was unaccustomed to feeling. But nothing could ever compare to the love she felt for Anthony Stark. For so long she looked in on his life from the sidelines. Unable to openly express her desire to be a part of it. Now, as he stood before her, the promise of such a thing from his own lips, she couldn't be happier or more in love with anyone else.

Slowly she turned to face him. Their bodies so close. Their breaths mingling before them. She could melt at his feet. If he had not done it at hers first. "I'm so in love with you, Pepper Potts." He sighed contentedly as he bowed his head to close his eyes. Her hand instantly finding his cheek as she cupped his face.

"Good, because I'm just as in love with you." Pepper smiled before their eyes locked.

She pulled him in, she kissed him softly, and she made him hers. Their lips sealing their promise to work on their lives together.

And as they broke away and breathed in each other, they rested their foreheads together. Quietly they embraced as they heard the echoing countdowns around them.

Both of them eager to embark on their new journey.

**I hope you guys enjoyed this little story. It was in the back of my mind ever since I first watched Iron Man 3. They could have extended the scene and made it so much more touching, but I guess that's what WE'RE here for. The sky's the limit when you use your words to fill in the gaps. I love it. So I used a line in there that Robert Downey Jr. said during an interview with Ty Simpkins at the Red Carpet Premier. See if you can figure it out! See you next time for ****_Iron Man: Risks and Consequences_****.**


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